Reader: Things have changed

Posted: Monday, December 31, 2007

"Not in my back yard" is a strong sentiment in Alaska, as well as all over the country. It reminds me of a little story of while we were traveling. Re: Soldotna's Cemetery or lack of. We always traveled on the cheap and were fortunate enough to spend about a week at Branson, Mo. Saw some great shows, but the cost of campgrounds close to town were expensive, so got our Good Sam Campground book out and found a place about 10 miles outside of town close to the river and nicely wooded.

We drove into the road to the campground and it was nice, quiet, pretty full, but my wife said, I don't want to stay here. Why, because bordering it was a large well-kept cemetery. I said, I don't worry about those people, it's the ones who might be walking around the campground.

Being born right after the depression in 1932, my father and mother were subsistence people just like the rest of the country and all of the people living in Alaska were doing the same thing. Nobody had any money. My parents worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, 365 days a year because we had livestock to take care besides farming the land

Things have changed all over the world. The Alaska Natives no longer have to survive on whale meat, because they have corporations giving them dividends. The state gives dividends and supplements the cost of many things. The "not in my back yard" people do not want methane wells drilled near Homer, the same with Mat-Su Valley.

When we traveled outside three years ago, the motels were full in areas of Canada because they were drilling for gas. Today thousands of wells are being drilled in the upper Midwest states, but not in our back yard. We older people may not see the day of a shortage of gas, but I would not bet on it. The price will not be good. Anyone remember the price of natural gas in 1977?